To the Planners of the 20th THS Class Reunion: I am the mother of Anthony Poterala, a graduate of the Class of 1987. It was insensitive and in very poor taste to list his occupation as "deceased."

The word occupation refers to what one does for a living; what they have gone to school for; trained for; have experience at. My son ceased to live on Oct. 6, 2003, and, believe me, he hadn't gone to school to learn to die, nor did he train for it, nor had any experience doing it. I don't know how the families of the other young men who have passed away feel, but it horrified me to see my son's name included in that list, with his "occupation" listed as deceased. He doesn't have an occupation. Deceased means to stop living. If it were absolutely necessary to list the "deceased" young men from the THS Class of 1987, a paragraph could have preceded the list. It could have said, "Sadly, Anthony Poterala, and, and, and have passed away and are no longer with us. There should have been a small written memorial. Then the list of the graduates who are living could have followed.

At the very least, the person(s) who were responsible for this list should have contacted the families of the young men who are no longer living, to ask them what their feelings were in this matter. I, for one, would have requested that Tony not be included in the list, unless a memorial was to be written to all the young men.

Originally posted by Tomahawk Leader:A letter in the Aug. 7 Tomahawk Leader

To the Planners of the 20th THS Class Reunion: I am the mother of Anthony Poterala, a graduate of the Class of 1987. It was insensitive and in very poor taste to list his occupation as "deceased."

If it were absolutely necessary to list the "deceased" young men from the THS Class of 1987, a paragraph could have preceded the list. It could have said, "Sadly, Anthony Poterala, and, and, and have passed away and are no longer with us. There should have been a small written memorial.

Brenda, I agree with you. I organize my class reunions. We always list the deceased but the way you mention. I like to include a reference to our deceased classmates because they were part of the class and I want others to know they've died. I think most classes do that.

I'm sorry for your loss. I can't imagine a worst horror for any parent than to lose a child.

Nell

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